Blog Posts

thefabricator.com has a team of bloggers that cover the challenges and rewards associated with a life in metal fabricating. Topics typically addressed by contributing authors include political and demographic trends affecting the fabricating industry, the business side of running a job shop, the culture of the welding community, and detailed looks at what happens on the shop floor.

Times have changed. We live in the information and stimulation age. Many things vie for our attention, and it can be difficult to focus on a single activity or life plan. Is that good or bad? Here’s Josh Welton’s take, based on his own experience.

Remember when the U.S. government bailed out Detroit? Many people were up in arms over the action. Perhaps knowing more about the automakers’ contributions to winning WWII might have softened some opinions. Here’s a short story about Chrysler's role.

Custom fabricating shops bid all kinds of jobs. Sometimes these jobs involve materials and processes beyond those the shop typically encounters. They make for interesting work that can require brushing up on little-used skills. Building a copper chimney cap was just such a job for Barnes MetalCrafters, one that resulted in a beautiful, functional work of art.

Welder and inspector Lucca Ilbert, who trained at the Robert Morgan Educational Center in Miami, loves fabricating and repairing aircraft parts. He hopes one day to have his own FAA-approved custom fabricating shop.

Repeating certain exercises is a fundamental part of learning a skill. Running stringers is one such exercise for anyone learning to weld. It also helps to listen to the instructor explain how it’s done.

You can never have too many customers, or so it’s said. Is this true? What about the customer that has you do all the hard work and takes your well-designed product elsewhere for production? Are you happy to have had their business? Perhaps you can take solace in lessons learned.

Do any of your earliest memories involve work? Josh Welton remembers using a drawknife and a hatchet to help his parents prepare wood for a log home. It was a communal labor of love that likely fostered his love of making things by hand.

Think Facebook is the ultimate time-waster? Nick Martin’s Facebook connection to an old classmate and fellow soccer teammate led to an important job preserving history for Barnes MetalCrafters. It also provided a learning opportunity, as many fabricating jobs do.

Recent Blog Posts

Things change and businesses move. Change and moving aren’t always easy, but acceptance and good planning can help make the transition as seamless and painless as possible. Remember, it is what it is. Make the best of it.

The Tube & Pipe Journal

The Tube & Pipe Journal became the first magazine dedicated to serving the metal tube and pipe industry in 1990. Today, it remains the only North American publication devoted to this industry and it has become the most trusted source of information for tube and pipe professionals.